The Pittsburgh Penguins announced that Nick Luukko will be an assistant coach with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in 2024-25.
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced early Monday morning that they had brought home Nick Luukko and offered him an assistant coach position with the American Hockey League Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins.
A native of West Chester, PA, the 32-year-old spent the past three seasons as head coach and Director of Hockey Operations for the Jacksonville Icemen in the ECHL.
Initially drafted by the cross-state rival Philadelphia Flyers in the sixth round (179th overall) in the 2010 Entry Draft, Luukko never played a game in the NHL but spent four seasons at the University of Vermont and four more in the ECHL.
He never advanced past the AHL, dressing seven games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the 2014-15 (six) and 2016-17 seasons (one).
Luukko will join first-year head coach Kirk MacDonald, who takes over after two seasons in the USHL.
Interestingly, this is not the first time these two will work together. When Luukoo played with the Reading Royals in the ECHL from 2015 to 2019, MacDonald was an assistant coach promoted to head coach.
Meanwhile, when Luukko retired and joined the coaching ranks, he served as an assistant coach under MacDonald with the Royals in 2019-20. The pair will reunite in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the 2024-25 season.